Crucible

By Hilary Russell

Crucible is a quarterly journal of Christian social ethics, drawing together some of the best practitioners, thinkers, and theologians in the field. Each issue reflects theologically on a key theme of political, social, cultural, or environmental significance.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hymns Ancient & Modern
• Release date: Jul 29, 2014
• ISBN: 9780334053491

Book preview

Copyright

Crucible is published quarterly by Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd.

Registered Charity No. 270060.

It is edited by John Atherton, in collaboration with the Church of England’s Division of Mission and Public Affairs; the William Temple Foundation and the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, Chester University.

Editorial board

Stephen Platten, John Atherton, Jennifer Cooper, Elaine Graham, Malcolm Brown, Chris Swift, Carol Wardman, Matt Bullimore, James Woodward, John Reader (Associate Editor) and Natalie K. Watson.

Correspondence and articles

Correspondence and articles for submission should be sent to John Atherton, 102 Fairview Drive, Adlington, Chorley, Lancs, PR6 9ST: [e-mail]. Articles should be of about 3000 words. Books for review to John Reader at The Rectory, Church Street, Wroxton, Banbury, OX15 6QE.

Subscriptions (for four copies): individual rate £20/£18 by direct debit; institutions £27/£25 by direct debit; international (includes airmail) £38/£35 by direct debit. Single copies cost £6.

All prices included postage and packing. Cheques should be made payable to Crucible, and sent to:

Crucible subscriptions,

Subscription Manager,

13a Hellesdon Park Road,

Norwich NR6 5DR.

Tel [phone].

Fax [phone]

[e-mail]

Direct Debit forms available from the same address.

ISSN 0011-2100

Printed by Ashford Colour Press,

Unit 600,

Fareham Reach,

Fareham Road,

Gosport,

Hampshire PO13 0FW.

Contents

Editorial

Making Connections

Hilary Russell

Articles

Restoring Welfare: Renewing the Safety Net in an Age of Food Poverty and Hunger

Niall Cooper

If Temple Came Back Today

Simon Duffy

In Pursuit of the Common Good: David Sheppard and Derek Worlock and the 1981 Toxteth Riots

Maria Power

Journeying Out Together for the Common Good: Community Organising across Denominations and Faiths

Angus Ritchie

Book reviews

Stephen Platten, Matthew Bullimore, John Atherton, Charlotte Dando, John Reader

Editorial: Making Connections

Hilary Russell

‘The wealth required by nature is limited and is easy to procure; but the wealth required by vain ideals extends to infinity.’ (Epicurus)

‘The current crisis is not only economic and financial but is rooted in an ethical and anthropological crisis.’¹

In the aftermath of the credit crunch, several recent books have sought explanations of the economic crisis but, in doing so, have concluded that a deeper malaise has been exposed.² As Michael Sandel puts it, the era of market triumphalism that began in the early 1980s came to an end in 2008. ‘The financial crisis did more than cast doubt on the ability of markets to allocate risk efficiently. It also prompted a widespread sense that markets have become detached from morals and that we somehow need to reconnect them.’³

In 1930, John Maynard Keynes correctly predicted in 1930 that Britain would continue to get richer. However, he then concluded that this increasing prosperity would bring an end to greed and acquisitiveness. ‘He thought people would work only enough to enable them to live wisely, agreeably, and well – to enjoy what we call the good life.’⁴ Why did Keynes get it so wrong? He was wrong about human nature. It is not just that people want more than is adequate, it is that they (we) want more than others. ‘Robinson Crusoe would perhaps be content with his lot. But fill his island with other people, and his dissatisfaction would grow as he started comparing his fortune with those around him.’⁵ Our current economic system actively encourages perpetual dissatisfaction and striving. ‘Capitalism rests precisely on this endless expansion of wants. That is why, for all its success, it remains so unloved. It has given us wealth beyond measure, but has taken away the chief benefit of wealth: the consciousness of having enough.’⁶ If this is the case, then ‘the mess we are in’⁷ cannot wholly be blamed on bankers for making lending too easy and for greedy and short-term thinking. They merely reflect the prevailing culture. Rather it suggests we all need to get off this ‘hedonic treadmill’ which presents us with ‘an always receding vision of contentment’.⁸

Market triumphalism is also seen in the extension of market values into the sphere of public and social goods, crowding out nonmarket values. ‘The economic metaphor came to be applied to every aspect of modern life, especially the areas where it simply didn’t belong. In fields such as education, equality of opportunity, health, employees’ rights, the social contract and culture, the first conversation to happen should be about values and principles; then you have the conversation about costs, and what you as a society can afford. In Britain in the last twenty to thirty years that has all been the wrong way round. There was a kind of reverse takeover, in which City values came to dominate the whole of British life.’⁹

Another outcome of these all-pervasive market values is growing inequality. The arguments of Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett¹⁰ arising from their research on the social determinants of health over the past few decades have been known for some time. The more unequal a society, the more common are the problems at the bottom of the social ladder. In more equal countries ‘there is a very strong tendency for ill-health and social problems to occur less frequently’.¹¹ But others have introduced wider challenges concerning inequality. The French economist Thomas Piketty demonstrates that capital is being concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. Financial inequality is increasing and accelerating. Accompanying risks are greater social discord and the degradation of the public sector.¹² Inequality is not, therefore, just an issue for the especially disadvantaged. ‘[T]here is a limit to the inequality that is consistent with economic stability and dynamism. That limit has been severely breached in recent times.’¹³ Inequality is a mark of a dysfunctional society that affects everyone and should concern everyone.

In his essay, Niall Cooper focuses on those groups in the UK today that are already at the wrong end of an unequal society but who are also most damaged by the austerity cuts that have been the main governmental response to the recession. He highlights the increase in food poverty that has galvanised church leaders to speak out and discusses the principles and implications of welfare reforms, but he indicates as well the ‘toxic public debate’, which has brought the added, corrosive dimension of ‘blaming the victim’. Simon Duffy, too, talks about the stigma, lies and injustice that undermine the welfare state. He looks back to William Temple’s vision of the welfare state and contrasts it with the reality today. The Church has an important role in reminding us of the sort of welfare state required as an expression of our commitment to support one another.

Together for the Common Good (T4CG) is exploring how faith groups can work better together for social justice.¹⁴ T4CG took as its reference point the partnership of Archbishop Derek Worlock, Bishop David Sheppard and Free Church leaders such as John Williamson and John Newton in Liverpool during the 1970s through to the 1990s, which still has something to teach us today. As church leaders, they saw the social imperatives of their time as bigger than the concerns of their individual traditions. In working to address them, they discovered that there was more to unite than to divide them. Liverpool was at the sharp end of economic decline and government policies. They identified closely with the city and its hinterland and particularly with communities that were left behind. They spoke up for the city even when it was unpopular